When asked today about the possibility of an Apple netbook, Steve Jobs said something to the effect of, “The market is just getting started – we’ll see how it goes.”
Huh? Here’s how the netbook market’s going, Steve: pretty much every major computer company has a netbook but you. Apple’s a prime candidate for a netbook, too. Know why? Because it’s just about the only company that could get away with selling it for well over $500. I bet Apple could sell a netbook for at least $600 or more.
So why should Apple, in particular, get into netbooks?
1. It gets people in the door at a low price point. Remember the Mac Mini? The Mac Mini’s sole purpose is to get people who are scared off by Apple’s relatively high prices into the game. But there’s a problem; nobody really buys desktops any more — especially not novice and/or basic computer users. Everyone buys laptops now.
At $999+, getting into an Apple laptop is a bit daunting for most people. But offer the Apple portable computing experience at near Mac Mini prices, and see what happens. There’s no big danger in offering an Apple netbook at $600 or more, so long as the next least expensive option remains at $999. PC notebook manufacturers don’t have that same luxury. You can’t price netbooks higher than your cheapest notebooks.
2. Netbooks are big on the whole alternative operating system thing. Regular people who would normally buy Windows-based computers are buying Linux-based netbooks without ever having used Linux before. It’s an even shorter leap to OS X. I mean, you already own an iPod, right? I use a PC for day-to-day stuff but I’d buy a Mac netbook for traveling because I know it’d be well-built, fast, and great for surfing the web.
“Regular” people would probably do the same thing. They’d say, “Oh, this doesn’t have Windows but at least I’ve heard of Apple and I like how it looks.” Plenty of people have at least used a Mac before, too, even if they usually use Windows.
3. It’s time for Apple to put out another small-ish laptop. No matter how light the MacBook Air gets, some people still want a computer that’s dimensionally small and lightweight. Howsabout a 10-inch screen? Even bring back the 12-inch screens. I saw an old 12-inch iBook G4 on the train the other week and did a double-take. They just don’t make ‘em like that any more.
4. The iPhone and iPod Touch desperately need to be integrated with something substantial. I’m not saying to go the RedFly or Palm Folio (R.I.P.) route and make the netbook useless on its own, but maybe make the netbook the one device that lets you easily tether your iPhone or perhaps include pre-set wireless synchronization or something. I’m also a huge fan of the idea of letting the iPhone/iPod Touch serve as the trackpad for the device, but you want to make the netbook so that people can buy it without having to own the other devices.
5. Make the decision easy for everyone by giving it a multi-touch screen like the one on the iPhone/iPod Touch and a good keyboard like the one on the MacBooks. People complain relentlessly about the trackpads, mouse buttons, and keyboards on today’s currently available netbooks. It might take an innovator like Apple to fix that problem.
Don’t forget about the Fujitsu U820
Jobs probably sees the iPhone and the iPod touch as netbooks. honestly, thats all the netbooks really are a step between a smartphone and a full fledge labtop.
But isn’t the iPod Touch / iPhone already a netbook or… if you wish, a net-tablet?
I have a 12″ G4 powerbook, I think it’s the perfect netbook. It’s got a fullsize keyboard that takes up the entire base of the computer, if it were any smaller the keyboard would have to shrink. I sit in class next to a guy using an Eee, it looks like a joke. The screen and keyboard are so tiny it’s just not reasonable. At least on the newer Eee’s the screen is as big as the panel it sits on.
I agree that the iPhone/touch is their netbook - I would rather have a touch than an eee.
Remember the PowerBook 12″ G4?
I have been saying it since I got the iPhone.. Not what you expect to hear, but I wish it was a little bit bigger. Big enough that the ‘key board’ could be used two handed, and using more space inside to make it more powerful more like a computer.
I guarantee nobody will be upset with the correspondingly larger sized screen that that would bring as well, better for watching videos..
When you’re talking about a phone, commonly people want a smaller product, but the iPhone goes WAY beyond phone, and it shouldn’t be stuck in the phone ‘box’ when it could be so much more.
Apple, merge the netbook idea with a slightly larger iPhone, it’ll be a killer product.
I agree completely. An aluminum cased “tablet” about the thickness of the bottom of the Macbook Pro would be amazing.
That sounds like a Nokia Communicator but with OS X, Apple design and usability (multi-touch, high-quality keyboard etc).
Not only do all of those conceptual points make sense, but the hardware upgrades that Apple has been making recently point toward a netbook release. By converting their entire line to the new Nvidia motherboards, Apple is foreshadowing their implementation in the genre the GeForce 9400M was built for: netbooks. Read more about Apple’s implementation of this chip at http://www.NetbookStation.com
My old iBook is almost a netbook. It just does not have WLAN, but I’ve installed Linux on it :-)
I’d love to buy a 10 inch Mac Netbook for $600. Throw in 802.11n wireless, iTunes, pre installed Skype with compatible audio hardware and a DVD player for watching movies, and that would be the ultimate toy to play with while I’m laid over at the airport. A few games would be nice too. I’d probably buy at least 2 of these. Can I backorder them now?
It wouldn’t be a netbook if it had a DVD player, and it would be a challenge to fit a DVD drive in a 10″ notebook anyway.
>>>woody - January 4th, 2009 at 7:06 am PST
I’d love to buy a 10 inch Mac Netbook for $600
>>
Woody, please order one for me too.
THX
PS: If it doesn’t come by early 2010, cancel my order and I’ll get an MSI Wind.
Man, would love to get one of these for myself
If Apple makes a unibody MacBook Pro with 12 inch screen, just like my favorite PowerBook G4, it will be my ultimate netbook.
I agree with everyone here… if apple makes a netbook with a 12″ screen in tablet form (basically a larger iPhone) it would be phenomenal. Although I think largely people would probably complain about the keyboard.
The Apple iTablet or MacTouch must have the full Mac OS X inside (not just the limited OS X). That is absolutely essential to run the full blown Office and iWork there. Not to work on it, but to use it for full blown Keynote and PowerPoint presentations via VGA-out port, Firewire port for repairs via Target Disk Mode, Ethernet port and at least two USB2 ports.
Because even the MacBook Air is too heavy and large. It must be 400 g or less (the lighter and smaller, the better), like the OQO model 2+
http://www.oqo.com
but like this with a touch screen:
Next Apple moves will be Books and Games…
http://spidouz.wordpress.com/2008/09/03/next-apple-moves-will-be-books-and-games
It will set new standards on all the corporate, academic and domestic markets. A new Halo effect will bring now millions to the Mac. Think about it also as the ultimate and portable development tool.
Everyone should stop using the false paradigm of ‘netbooks’. People just want reasonably-sized (9×11x1 in.) notebooks! For some odd reason, companies decided that notebooks ‘needed’ to have a 16:9 wide screens (like television???). This had the effect of forcing larger (13-17″) screens to have enough screen height.
The whole widescreen thing is due to the fact that a 13″ widescreen actually has less real estate and costs less to produce than a 13″ 4:3 ratio screen, but can still be advertised as 13″. (See the digital picture frame market, for example. All of the lower cost models are widescreen.)
I’m still using my 12″ G4 PowerBook every day as well, upgraded to 1 GB RAM and a 32 GB SSD. But, a slightly smaller and lighter version would be most welcome - i.e., a MacBook Air mini (except not that name) - 10″ 4:3 or 12″ widescreen, 32/64 GB SSD, Atom N270, etc… The N270 has been demonstrated to be powerful enough to run OS X via many Hackintoshers, at 1/7th the power draw of the Air’s C2D 35 Watt processor. As noted already, Apple might actually be able to sell this for $600.